Ghana: When Independence day becomes a ho-hum affair, it's a good sign

Fifty-five years ago today, Ghana became the first black African nation to gain independence from a colonial power. As the Ghana Broadcasting Corp. reported today, apparently without great enthusiasm, “The day will as usual be marked all over the country with parades of security agencies, school children, workers, and other groups.”

When independence day becomes a ho-hum affair, it's a good sign. It means freedom is the accepted norm. 

The path of independence has not been easy. Kwame Nkrumah – the pan-Africanist leader who galvanized various different tribes into a single nation, and then was overthrown in a 1966 coup for overstaying his welcome – told his countrymen that their success depended on common effort for the greater good....

For all the hype, Ghana is not the first African nation to attain independence. That title goes to Liberia, which was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.

But the pride and hope of Nkrumah’s speech, and the enthusiasm of the crowd, helped set off a wave of independence movements across the continent that didn’t stop until the end of apartheid in 1994. Given how many African nations followed Ghana toward independence – some peacefully, others fitfully – it’s natural to think of this day as a collective rebirth-day for Africa....